Ristampe Storiche #3

A delightful piece of comics history, this third volume in Comicon Edizioni's Ristampe Storiche series brings Italian readers a taste of Victorian Britain through the adventures of Ally Sloper — billed right on the cover as "The First Comics Superstar." The cover itself, drawn by Charles H. Ross, features the lanky, top-hatted Sloper rendered in a charmingly vintage cartoon style, flanked by a Union Jack and the masthead of the original Judy Office, London, rooting the character firmly in his 1867 origins. Written by Charles H. Ross and illustrated by Marie Duval, this 2006 Napoli publication offers a genuinely rare chance to meet the bumbling antihero who helped shape the comics medium in its earliest days.